UEFA to clarify rules on deflected own goals

BERNE, Switzerland, March 27 (Reuters) - UEFA's executive committee will discuss the precise definition of own goals on Friday in an issue of huge importance to Europe's top strikers and defenders.

European soccer's governing body is keen to end confusion
over whether a goal should be credited to an attacking player,
even when it has been diverted into the net by a member of the
defending team.

'It wasn't something that was seen as particularly important
20 years ago,' UEFA spokesman William Gaillard said before the
meeting in Liechtenstein. 'But now, for the player's careers and
so on, it seems that it is.'

Gaillard said it was currently left to referees to identify
goal scorers in their match reports but that had led to
discrepancies in the past.

'There is no real rule right now for what constitutes an own
goal and that's the problem we want to look at,' he said.

'In some cases a referee's decision has been overturned,
usually with some UEFA people looking at a video in a very
informal manner. But we want to have the whole thing codified to
clear up any ambiguities.'

A number of weightier subjects will also be up for
discussion on Friday, including UEFA's efforts to secure
concessions from the European Union in regard to sport's
specific nature within EU law.

Along with world soccer's governing body FIFA, UEFA are
calling for some form of national quota system to be allowed in
domestic leagues, with limits based either upon players'
nationalities or on where they received their youth training.

Although apparently in conflict with EU regulations on the
free movement of European workers, the sports bodies have argued
that a perceived excess of foreign players in leagues such as
the English Premiership is damaging clubs' traditional
identities.

The executive committee is also set to discuss Albania's
suspension from international competition following FIFA
allegations of government interference in the running of the
national association.

On Friday UEFA will also select the venues for the Champions
League and UEFA Cup finals for 2010 and 2011.

Germany and Spain each have two stadiums bidding for the
Champions League finals, with Berlin's Olympiastadion and
Munich's Allianz Arena up against the Bernabeu in Madrid and
Valencia's Mestalla.

England's new Wembley stadium is the fifth ground in
contention for one of the two finals.

London is also in the running for one of the UEFA Cup finals,
with Arsenal's Emirates stadium facing competition from
Barcelona, Hamburg, Dublin, Bucharest and Gelsenkirchen.